Want to be a kick-ass entrepreneur? You must first become an employee
[bctt tweet=”Not everybody can become a successful entrepreneur without undergoing some level of training” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Early this year, I had a conversation with a colleague, and we both agreed that the ultimate goal of most millennials was to be their own boss. According to a survey that was conducted by America’s Small Business Development Centres, over 61% of millennials believe the best job security comes from owning your own business. In my opinion, this is a welcome development. More entrepreneurs mean more job creation which in turn leads to an even distribution of wealth, hence reducing the household to poverty ratio. Having said that, it must be stated that not everybody can become a successful entrepreneur without undergoing some level of training whether as an employee or receiving formal (or semi-formal) education. It is quite impossible for you to suddenly acquire the skill set required to become a successful entrepreneur without learning from someone. Presently, there is an ongoing, albeit subtle, disparagement of people working as employees. The condescension is astonishing, you wouldn’t believe it. Employees are now seen as sell-outs; people with little or no ambition. In their haste to put down employees, most people forget that the most successful entrepreneurs in the world were once employees. And the reason for their success can be partly attributed to the skills they acquired while working under someone. [bctt tweet=”Most people forget that the most successful entrepreneurs in the world were once employees” via=”no”] I came across this quote by President Donald Trump which I think is very apt for this post, “Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity”. In the same vein, you can only be a great leader by being a follower. Working as an employee can provide you with tools that you need to start-up your own company. Network Business contacts and networks don’t magically land in your laps. You have to make a conscious effort to put yourself out there. By working as an employee, you are able to access the pool of professionals and resources you will need in the future. Never underestimate the power that comes from knowing people and having connections that will act as your referral sources when you do start your business. Experience This cannot be over-emphasized. One of the key reasons why most start-ups fail is because the entrepreneurs didn’t have the necessary experience or knowledge about the sector. A friend who wanted to start a clothing line had no idea what such venture would entail. Her solution was employing someone who had experience. The danger with this is that you are essentially running a business where you know nothing, thus leaving yourself open to failure. Confidence and clear communicator When you learn a skill and have mastered it (by doing it over and over again as an employee), there is a confidence that comes with the knowledge that you are a pro in that particular area. For instance, working as a sales personnel in a manufacturing company. As a sales personnel, you had to learn how to sell a product. By doing this over a period of time, you become very good at it. When you eventually start your own product line, you are already a master of sales and this brings a certain level of confidence. As an employee, you had to learn the art of good communication, what good communication looks and sounds like. Being able to communicate effectively makes a major difference, and this is a skill you will need when you start employing people. Learning the art of budgeting Truthfully, you don’t need to be an employee to learn how to budget your expenses. However, as an employee, you may have noticed that in order for a company to run effectively, funds have to be allocated for various activities. You learn how to achieve more with less, and how to organise and think creatively. This is important because not all startups have huge capital to invest. You will need to do the important stuff with the little you have. Avoid mistakes There is nothing as beautiful as learning from the mistakes of others, especially for entrepreneurs. So, as an employee, you would have noticed the flaws and the loopholes in the business. This will serve as a guide such that when you start your own company, these flaws and loopholes will be avoided. So, these are the reasons why I believe that one of the best things an aspiring entrepreneur should do before starting up his/her company is to first work for other people.
Nkechi Adimora: 5 things that kept my business running during the recession
Nkechi Adimora is the CEO of Ozi Express, a logistics business she started with her husband a little over a year ago. This startup is focused on local delivery of food, parcels, and errands within the city of Abuja, Nigeria. Prior to this, Nkechi has run businesses ranging from retailing authentic human hair, a mobile clothes and accessories boutique, and a food vending stall. Although Nkechi’s educational background in International Relations and Development gained from Sussex University and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London seems a little different from her savvy and quest for business, she has successfully integrated these skills to ensure she runs her logistics business with class and excellence. The young CEO shares with us some key things to note while keeping your startup running during the recession. [bctt tweet=”I adopt the ‘customer is always right principle’ because my main goal is not money” via=”no”] My employees Let us be honest while it is somewhat fulfilling to become an employer of labor, it is getting increasingly difficult to find good employees. Somehow it seems like everybody wants to earn money but nobody wants to work. My employees are not the best but they all have one thing in common -they are very hardworking. The business needed a lot more effort to keep customers which meant that we had no room to mock about especially since we now have an almost saturated market for delivery business. But they wake up every day and self-motivate themselves to work – and this helped us through the recession. [bctt tweet=”My employees self-motivate themselves to work – this helped us through the recession” via=”no”] Loyal Customers I began the business handling the customer relations myself – this meant that despite my regular day job, I spend an enormous amount of personal and family time responding to customers and ensuring that they were satisfied with the service I am providing. Now I love speaking to customers – and sadly I feel that nobody can handle my customers like I do. This is because I can instantaneously take decisions in order to ensure customer satisfaction such as offer discounts, deal with complaints immediately and appease customers whenever my employees have delayed a delivery/errand. I also always adopt the good old ”customer is always right principle” because my main goal is not the money but rather to keep them coming back to me. I had years of customer service related training and work experience right from when I was in University – from being an International Student Ambassador to call centre jobs in corporate companies where I sharpened my Customer Service Relations (CSR) skills to the core. Accounting Now, this is one area where I am still not an expert in but I realize you do not need to be an expert to do simple numbers. I am very strict with monitoring the accounts (which I do myself). I keep a simple spreadsheet which helps me track my daily income and expenditure. And this year when the recession really hit, I administered cost-saving strategies so as to keep our costs as low as possible in order to maximise profits. Pricing When I initially started I offered very low prices for even far distances. In the new year, we announced a price increase to our customers which was between 100 – 200 naira. Unbelievably, we lost a lot of customers even though the majority of them understood the reasons for our decision. But of course when you lose some you gain new ones and this was our case. We had to ensure the price was right so that we do not end up running a charity business. Supporting Small Businesses Every small business or start-up in Nigeria already understands that the environment is very unfriendly to our business. With this in mind, I consider small businesses when I want to offer discounts to my loyal customers. It’s simple. If food company A has a product for 5 naira and my delivery cost is normally 5 naira, it does not make sense to me to charge him or her 5 naira for delivery. In such cases, I am usually willing to charge 2 naira for delivery. In my opinion, I am also contributing to support small businesses to achieve their dreams. A lot of my customers now are startups/small businesses who have negotiated affordable prices for delivery that they feel their customers will be happy to pay (although not in all cases). Generally, in business, people only think of how much they can make out of it. While this is not in itself a bad thing, I think that money should be the second thought – crazy as this sounds. The first thought could be passion, filling a gap or meeting a need…then comes the money. Ozi Express is on Instagram as we continue to leverage on innovative ways to support businesses and grow our clientele.
Facebook Live with Ink Eze: How I grew AsoEbiBella to one million followers(June 21)
Whatever it is you do, or services you provide, you need social media and digital marketing to grow and boost your business. If you’re thinking you can only reach young people on social media, you’re wrong. Even our yummy mummies and daddies are online ready to patronize you and your product. This is 2017, there’s no time for dulling. Its about time you master the tools and strategies of online marketing, to enable you reach your target audience. As part of our Boost Your Business digital marketing training series, we are bringing you a Facebook Live session on Wednesday June 21st with Ink Eze. Ink is the founder and brains behind the famous African fashion online community, AsoEbiBella.com . She’ll be sharing with us some of the tools she’s used to grow the AsoEbiBella platform, and get over 1 million followers on Instagram. [bctt tweet=”Ask Ink any questions about how to grow your audience with social media. Facebook Live( June 20)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Register below to get the exclusive link to join this session Some of the topics we’ll cover Best practices to generate brand awareness and reach your target audience How you can leverage Facebook, Instagram and other social and digital platforms to market your business. Key digital marketing lessons Ink has learned since founding AsoEbiBella Must-know social media and digital marketing techniques and tools to drive traffic and generate revenue Facebook Live Details: Date: Wednesday June 21st 2017 Time: 2pm Lagos// 3pm Johannesburg// 4pm Nairobi Where: facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/ Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1900264340196877/ About Ink Ink Eze is the Founder of AsoEbiBella.com, a platform for sharing African traditional styles. She became BellaNaija Weddings editor in 2013, and Assistant Editor of BellaNaija, heading the lifestyle section – style, beauty and living until January 2017. In her early years, she was head girl of her secondary school. Ink attended the prestigious United World College of the Adriatic, then studied modern culture and media at the Ivy League Brown University. Under her leadership, BN Weddings gained international prominence and became Africa’s foremost wedding media brand with millions of followers across several platforms and coverage on BuzzFeed, BBC & more. She’s conceived of BBN Wonderland, Nigeria’s top bridal event since 2015 with Baileys Nigeria. Now she spends her time on AsoEbiBella and sharing her insights with the world. For more Ink, join her on @Ink.Eze | @AsoEbiBella
Do male ideas rock and female ideas suck? 10 things women founders need to do to get funded!
[bctt tweet=”The statistics on Venture capital funding do not favour women founders” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You are a young woman, you are innovative, you have many ideas and you just launched a tech startup! Now, you need to get funded to take your startup where you want it to be. You have applied here and there and even made submissions and connections to venture capitalists but you are yet to make any headway and you know the survival of your startup depends on some fresh cash injection. It’s not getting any better because the statistics on Venture capital funding do not favour women founders. You see your business drifting into the number of un-funded women startups and you desperately need answers. Hi babe, are you there? If this is your experience as a female startup founder or entrepreneur, take a deep breath, you are so not alone. It’s no news that Venture Capital funding gender gap swings against women big time as male startup ideas get funded at a 16 to 1 ratio compared to those of women. According to Venture Capital database Pitchbook, Venture Capitalists invested $52.2 billion in male-run start-ups while female-run startups received only $1.46 billion in 2016. This figure paled in comparison to the other years in the last decade causing us to wonder if funding for women-run startups will ever get better. And why is this so? Do male ideas rock while female ideas suck? What do female founders need to do to get their start-ups funded in a male-dominated tech startup ecosystem which tilts towards men statups? Here are 10 things women founders can consider doing to get desperately needed cash to push their start-ups to the next level; 1. Learn as fast as male founders As a female founder, how fast do you learn? Are you comfortable with the things you know year in, year out or do you push your learning barriers to exhaustive levels? When it comes to male founders, we have seen them take drastic steps to get their startups going even if it takes pushing learning boundaries over and beyond their usual capacities. Then a Mckinsey management staffer, Eliam Medina undertook a one month crash course to learn how to code to get the first iteration for his free wills and legal service startup, Willing, up and running. And it is no surprise that more guys learn to code than girls. Data from Girls Who Code shows that computer science learning among women has reduced from 37% in 1984 to 18% presently. And when it comes to venture capital funding, one thing is clear, strong technical teams with a major bias for a technical founder is a good first step to knocking on VC doors for funding and getting their attention. Learning also traverses reading about other startup ideas like your life depends on it and using the successes and failures of other startup founders to your advantage. Who best is adopting this technique to create exciting startups than male startup founders, from 99designs to 99taxis, 99bitcoins, etc. Nikki Durkin, founder of defunct startup 99dresses has definitely seen men transform her failure into breathtaking successes which are also foundational to catching the eyes of investors. As female founders learning about one new idea a day can boost your strategy direction which gives investors the impetus to go with your call. 2. Have an idea arsenal and pick the best Consider why you started your startup in the first place. Was it out of your own need or a real need? While this may be tough to evaluate, candidly, it is best to have an idea arsenal. Your idea arsenal should be full of ideas which not only resonates with you but ones with real and researched needs with an addressable market size. Go beyond the scope of ideas for start-ups meeting only the needs of women. While this is not bad in itself, the venture world is run by men and they sometimes get lost when it comes to women specific ideas and don’t know why they should be investing. From this collection you have created, pick the best and launch it first. By the best, I mean the one with the most validation from prospects, possibly millions of people who will find this startup useful to them on probably a daily. This means that people can pay for what you have launched and the possibility of this is exciting to any venture capitalists. [bctt tweet=”The venture world is run by men & they sometimes get lost when it comes to women specific ideas” via=”no”] 3. Fail fast by launching other startup ideas Far from what most people who go into tech may think, creating a successful startup is not a Disney fantasy tale. The best startup founders did not necessarily hit it big on the first idea they launched. To put it in clearer terms, a lot of them ran with more than one idea. Stackoverflow founder, Joel Spolsky and his team had Trello and FogCreek up and running alongside. He opined that by chasing multiple ideas at once, anyone of them could succeed into the big leagues. Female startup founders need this perspective and be ready to fail fast like most of their male counterparts. This is because, no matter how lucrative an idea may seem, the time may not be right for its mainstream demand. This happened with all the devices created prior to Apple’s iPod and that should be the target of any female founder who wishes to be trolled with funding instead of actually chasing after it. 4. Spy for the extraordinary Venture funding, no matter how scarce they may be to female founders, can never shy away from the extraordinary startups run by women. Why is this? We have been ushered into a world of constructive and collaborative disruptions across industries all over the world, mostly spearheaded by technology. From Uber to Airbnb, Snapchat, Convene, and Spotify, we have seen tech ideas break the
Webinar with Aisha Addo: How to start a non-profit organization (Jun 20)
Aisha Addo is the founder of Power to Girls Foundation, an organization that helps girls identify their true purpose and calling. Join us for a webinar with her on June. 20th, as she shares with us some of her tips on social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship isn’t just one thing. You can be an entrepreneur in a small business, startup, large company etc. But if you’re interested in making the world a better place, you’re on your way to becoming a social entrepreneur. You need to ask yourself – What type entrepreneur do I want to become? Aisha Addo is a social entrepreneur, who has dedicated her life to empowering women and young girls with her initiative – Power To Girls Foundation. She offers them the mentorship, guidance and the resources they need to achieve their dreams and excel. Join us for a 45-minute webinar with Aisha Addo on Tuesday, June 20th, 2017. We’ll be discussing what it takes to become a social entrepreneur, and starting a non-profit organization. Register below to get the exclusive link to the webinar. [bctt tweet=”Join @AishaAfua for a webinar on Tue June 20th to learn how to start a non-profit organization” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Some of the topics we’ll cover: Starting a non-profit organization Risk taking in social entrepreneurship Having confidence in your idea How to live your most authentic life doing what you love. Webinar Details: Date: Tuesday, June 20th Time: 11am Toronto / 3pm Accra / 4pm Lagos Watch here: About Aisha Addo Aisha Addo is a graduate in Business Administration Accounting, but her true passion and dedication lies in ensuring girls around the world are provided with the guidance and resources that’ll help them to reach their full potential. Aisha founded Power To Girls Foundation, a non-profit organization to offer young girls the mentors and role models that were absent during her own youth. She is a recipient of the Young Black and Gifted Award for Community Service, was named a Black Diversity Group Role Model and One of 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada, and also among the 150 Black Women making history in Toronto. Her latest initiative is DriveHER, the ride-sharing service for women by women.
How to handle conflict like a pro
[bctt tweet=”There are many reasons you might have conflict in your business & you need to understand them” via=”no”] The former US president Ronal Reagan is quoted as saying, “peace is not the absence of conflict, and it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” This means that conflict is inevitable: we have it at home, at work, and in our social circles. The moment you have more than one person in a group, the likelihood of confrontation arises. Why? Because of differing views, because of differences in interests etc. If you are wondering if the conflict at your office is normal, wonder not, it is. What is not normal is the degrees to which it can go to as well as the irreparable damage it can cause if it is not dealt with accordingly. If you are a business owner or even an employee, the following tips can help you handle conflict better and foster a positive environment. 1. Understand why you have conflict There are many different reasons you might have conflict in your business. These range from personality clashes; communication gaps; disputes over approaches as well as competition for limited resources. Understanding the triggers from your environment is the most important thing you can do because only when you know what is causing something are you in a position to ‘fix it’. 2. Manage expectations Do you over promise and under deliver? Managing expectations internally is important because people know what they can expect from you and the work environment. Often times in trying to get the ‘best’ talent through the door, business owners make promises that they cannot meet by the time they say they will. This leads to resentment, which manifests in various problems that affect the business owner, colleagues and even customers, rather under promise and over deliver. 3. Draw up a conflict resolution guide In the same way that you would have a code of conduct that you get every employee to sign when they come on board, so too should you have a conflict resolution guide. The contents (and comprehensiveness) are dictated entirely by the anticipation of conflict in your company as well as the gravity of those conflicts. Start simple, put together questions that first and foremost facilitate a reflective purpose. [bctt tweet=”Drawing up a conflict resolution guide could help handle conflicts in the workplace effectively” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 4. Set rules! Over and above the standard policies and codes of conduct, have rules of engagement that you compile with your team. When they have had a say on for example how they will relate to each other in the office, they are more likely to keep their end compared to when it is a rule from the boss. You can even take it a step further and develop shared values. Make sure you include how ‘we promise to deal with conflict in the office’. 5. Never take sides Yes she may have started with you when you were still a struggling business owner, and she understands the company, but just like everyone else you’ve brought on board, she has a role to play. Everyone who works with you makes a contribution and they all need to be treated fairly and with respect. That includes not being side-lined over another employee. Treat everyone the same. 6. Listen more and talk less As the visionary and not executor, yours is to spend more time listening than talking. Listen to what is not said especially because it is herein that the truth is often times revealed. Listen not to answer but to understand. When your approach is this, people will feel comfortable coming to you, be it for good or bad. And as a permanent effective strategy to conflict management, this accessibility is what you must aim towards. When you take even one of these tips and put it into action, you will be amazed at how much more manageable conflict in your workplace becomes. Remember that peace is not the absence of conflict; it is rather the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. Sometimes all it takes is being proactive and putting systems in place that support dealing with conflict when it arises.
Instagram Q & A with Peace Hyde: Fighting against the odds (May 30)
Day after day, African women keep breaking boundaries and creating an impact in their respective professions. Who says you can’t do the same? Sometimes we might encounter a hitch during our journey, but as Motherland Moguls, we have to keep fighting against all odds and let people know that we’ve got this! Award winning presenter and TV host Peace Hyde is contributing to the narrative of growing female power on the African continent. Through her work, she encourages young African women to be bold and break barriers to achieve their set goals. Join us on Instagram for a Q & A session with Peace Hyde on Tuesday 30th May. Peace will be sharing her entrepreneurial journey with us, and answering all your questions about fighting against the odds. [bctt tweet=”Join @Peac_hy for an Instagram Q & A on May 30 to discuss fighting against the odds” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] We will be giving away a FREE cheat sheet with Peace Hyde’s top 10 lessons for everyone fighting against the odds. Register below to get your copy. Instagram Q & A Details: Date: Tuesday May 30th 2017 Time: 1pm Lagos// 2pm Joburg// 3pm Nairobi Where: https://www.instagram.com/sheleadsafrica/ About Peace Peace Hyde is the Forbes West Africa Correspondent. She is most widely known for her role as host of the flagship Forbes Africa TV show, “My Worst Day with Peace Hyde”. Some of the guests on the show to date included Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote and second richest woman in Africa, Folorunsho Alakija and many more. Peace is scheduled to launch a new show “Against the Odds” which will feature appearances from prolific African women who are recognised for their accomplishments in business or career.
Boost your business with Morin Oluwole: How to market your business on Instagram (May 23)
Now that Instagram has over 300 million daily active users, true Motherland Moguls are leveraging on this huge market to boost their businesses. Social media is the new marketplace for anything, and Instagram is taking the lead, become the most popular platform. So why are you not selling on Instagram? As part of our Boost Your Business digital marketing training series, we are bringing you a Facebook Live session on Tuesday May 23rd with Morin Oluwole. Morin will be showing us how luxury brands sell their products on Facebook and Instagram and how you can do the same for your products. Morin is now Head of luxury at Facebook, and was formerly Chief of Staff to the VP, Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook where she developed business strategies for global brand partners. Register below to get the exclusive link to join this session Some of the topics we’ll cover How you can leverage Facebook and Instagram to get clients Key digital marketing lessons learned while working with global luxury brands Best practices of selling fashion on Instagram and Facebook Social and digital strategies to market online Facebook Live Details: Date: Tuesday May 23rd 2017 Time: 3pm Lagos// 4pm Paris// 5pm Nairobi Where: facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/ Watch video here: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1887518318138146/ About Morin Morin Oluwole is an expert in positioning brands on social media. With more than 10 years of experience at Facebook, she knows what works and how to best maximize it. Morin holds a BA and MA from Stanford University in Human Biology and Sociology and an MA in Management from Columbia University. She was a Bill Gates Millennium Scholar and received the Dean’s award for academic excellence – both for 5 consecutive years. Morin who has lived on three continents and currently resides in Paris, has been featured in the New York Times, Black Enterprise, Movelifestyle.com, and Alder Social Media Report. She speaks four languages (English, Yoruba, Spanish, and French).
Facebook Live with Adepeju Jaiyeoba: Finding a purpose and choosing a career path (May. 19)
Have you been asked many times what you want to be, or do with your life, and every time, your answer has been different, or you stutter? When it comes to deciding on what career to face, some people get it right the first time, while others find themselves twirling and spinning, until they find a rhythm. Join us for a Facebook Live session on Friday 19th May, with Adepeju Jaiyeoba – White House Emerging Global Entrepreneur and Founder of Mother’s Delivery Kit and Brown Button Foundation. She’ll be talking extensively about finding your purpose and choosing a career path. Adepeju will be answering individual questions during the Facebook Live, so register below and ask your questions. [bctt tweet=”Join @pjlalah to discuss finding your purpose and choosing a career path on Facebook Live (19 May)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Some of the topics we’ll cover Life after university: Your next steps 7 ways to finding your purpose Making the right professional and career decisions Facebook Live Details: Date: Friday 19th May 2017 Time: 1pm Lagos// 2pm Joburg// 3pm Nairobi Where: facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/ Watch video here: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1885847208305257/ About Adepeju Adepeju Jaiyeoba is the Founder of ‘ Mother’s Delivery Kit ’ social venture which provides ultra affordable sterile supplies for women to use at childbirth while also increasing access to quality healthcare services, as well as Brown Button Foundation, an NGO which trains traditional birth attendants that takes more than 55% of child delivery in Nigeria. Although she’s a graduate of Law, she has a strong background experience in global health with the United Nations Foundation and background knowledge in Business from the University of Texas, Austin USA. Adepeju is a White House Emerging Global Entrepreneur honoured by President Barack Obama, and has been mentioned in the 2017 100 Most inspiring Women in Nigeria, She Leads Africa’s top 10 female entrepreneur for Diaspora Demo day, 2017 ONE African Champion, 2015 YNaija top 10 most influential Nigerians under 40 (Advocacy), and an acknowledged Global Change Leader by the Coady International Institute, Canada.
Chellie Clarkson-Brown: Designing for women of color and overcoming the #icebergsyndrome
[bctt tweet=”Chellie Clarkson-Brown wants to make African-inspired apparel an everyday staple in Western Europe” via=”no”] No one ever tells you about the amount of work that goes on underneath the surface of the water- #icebergsyndrome… but keep keeping on and eventually the tip of your iceberg will emerge. Enter entrepreneur Chellie Clarkson-Brown the Founder and Creative Director of Afro Couture Designs LDN, a fashion brand focusing on sizes and designs for women of colour. With SLA contributor Neo Cheda, Chellie shares her entrepreneurship journey and what has pushed to her to success. Tell us about you and how Afro Couture Designs come about? I studied Pattern Cutting and Tailoring at London College of Fashion but left this to work within the retail industry. Well, it wasn’t for me so I returned to university at University College of the Arts. My time there was traumatic, to say the least. I was often denied the opportunity to express myself based on what I felt represented me. Everything I designed in reflection of my African heritage and life experiences, was, in my opinion, belittled and rubbished. I lost so much confidence in my abilities and myself, that I became depressed. To add insult to injury, I wasn’t even able to get any real retail therapy without having to break the bank. Come on now, we all know that the only way to make a girl feel good about herself in circumstances like these, is a good old shopping trip. The only items I could get on the high street were ill fitting for my body shape. As almost any woman of colour will know, it may fit everywhere else, but it “sho’ ain’t gone fit” around your hips, rear and thighs. Or you would go up or down a size to alleviate the problem above and guess what, it would fit everywhere else, but not your waist #BlackGirlIssues. So I did some extensive market research in order to collate a sizing criteria for women, particularly focusing on women of colour, as our primary target market. This has allowed us at Afro Couture Designs to create a more inclusive sizing range which is a better reflection of the modern day woman. Most importantly, it incorporates the proportions of women of colour too. As part of our initiative, we are committed to being environmentally friendly by being as sustainable as we are practical. Tell us about your vision for Western European Demographics. At Afro Couture Designs LDN, we design and create on trend contemporary African-inspired apparel and products and our intention is to make these products an everyday design staple within the Western European demographic. Our products are not intended to exclude or to be divisive, rather our products are primarily intended to celebrate and embrace all things African and showcase the beauty within the continent and how it can compliment European fashion trends. We use high end design techniques, pattern cutting, and production techniques and source the highest quality fabrics. At Afro Couture Designs LDN, we fuse and mix together an eclectic range of fabrics from the both the Western European and African Hemispheres to bring you our AfroEurocentric collections. The collections within these ranges are African inspired with a contemporary twist and are intended for those who not only think outside of the box but actually go one step further and throw it away altogether. Afro Couture Designs LDN, provides a multi-faceted design and production service from fashion, products, and interior design to delivering fashion workshops and property development. Afro Couture Designs LDN’s business objective, is to be the one-stop shop or boutique for all your design requirements. Akin to the likes of the Selfridges of London or Macy’s of New York- for all things Afrocentric. What accomplishments are you most proud of? Getting it all together again from being homeless after my home was repossessed and I lost my job. The struggle was harder as I was a single mother at the time. But all things are possible through God. “Everything is possible for one who believes” Mark 9:23. #Ifyoucanconceiveit- #youcanachiveit What challenges have you faced that are unique to your business? Trying to blend Afrocentric influences harmoniously with the Eurocentric to create the AfroEurocentric brand. Additionally, trying to secure financial support for such a new concept with the intention of making the brand available to the mass market. [bctt tweet=”Afro Couture Designs aims to give exposure to established & emerging African artisans” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Which 3 African women that inspire you and why? My Grandmother, the late great Madam Margaret Ntiamoah For her determination, her tenacity and most importantly how resourceful she was. I remember growing up in Ghana during the coup d’état of 1979. Food was rationed and money was tight. There were so many of us living in one room and my Nana, would create gourmet dishes for all of us from one tin of baked beans, or even crack 2 eggs in a spinach stew and manage to make that stretch around 6-8 of us, with some left over for the next day. On the days we had money for coal, in the morning before school, Nana would set the coals in the coal pot (which I’d fan) to make the morning porridge, the smouldering coals would then be put into a cast iron, hence the name, to iron our uniforms. After that, the hot cast iron would then be dipped into the cold bucket of water to warm it up for our morning baths. Talk about resourceful! She got up at the crack of dawn every morning well into her later years to go set up her market stall at Mokola market without fail. Her work ethic has stuck with me till this day. God rest her beautiful soul. Ghanaian designer, Christie Brown For being self-taught and still managing to make it into the mainstream fashion world. I’m inspired by her style and the fact that she has slowly over the years managed to place herself